Measuring instrument.



By m57 Patented May 4, 1909.

... mmmnumm E. HIERGESELL. y MEASURING INSTRUMENT. APPLIGATION FILED AUG.15, 1908.

UNITED STATES EFIQE.

EDWARD HIERGESELL, OF RICHMOND HILL, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CLARA. LOUISE TAGLIABUE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MEASURING INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Application filed. August 15, 1908. Serial No.V 448,679.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD HrnnensELL, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Richmond I-Iill,4 Queens county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Measuring Instruments; and I do hereby 'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which the same relates to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a class of instruments which depend on the specific density of liquids to regulate the depth of immersion of a vertical float, such, for example, as the hydrometer .or lactometer, and has for its object the creation of suclran instrument which will automatically show, at that point of the instrument which corresponds to the surface of the liquid. the percentage of contents of any important ingredient for which the instrument has been previously prepared. In order to allow for corrections necessarily due to the variations in temperature, I provide the instrument of my invention with certain simple and convenient corrections applied to the thermometerA scale.

In the drawings Figure l is a front view of the instrument; and Figs. 2 'and 3 are illus'- trative views of the two paper scales fiattened out, so as to make the reading plain.

In describing' my instrument I will confine myself to one adapted specifically for the measurement of lactic acid, although, of course, the construction applies equally to similar instruments adapted for the measurement of other ingredients of a liquid. The instrument as a whole comprises a hollow glass bulb with the usual weighted thermometer bulb at the bottom, above which is the thermometer chamber'.

In the drawings I have designatedA the four divisions of the instrument as follows: A indicates the thermometer bulb; B the weight; O the iloat chamber and D the upper tube. The iioat chamber O contains the thermometer scale E and the thermometer tube E. The upper tube D contains the actual measuring scale G on which is read the percentage of lactic acid in the` liquid. The preparation of the scale G is as follows:

Technically pure lactic acid contains somewhat less than 80% of pure lactic acid, about 20% of water, and a few er centof what may be called impurities or the pur- Mv instru-- and the surface of the liquid is then taken so as to mark a point shown as 80 on the scale G of the scale G. Pure water marks the Zero point of the scale. The scale is then graduated between Zero and 80 in such a manner that each division will accurately designate the actual contents of lactic acid in the mixture. Thus if the mixture contains 10% of commercial lactic acid and 90% ofY water in addition, and the lactic acid is an 80% solution, then the actual per cent. of pure lactic acid is only 8, and the scale is graduated at 8 to show such a percentage; 15% commercially pure lactic acid and 85% water contains only 12% actual lactic acid, and such a mixture is shown by the graduation 12 on the scale. The various possible mixtures of commercially pure lactic acid and water are ascertained, reduced to 80% basis, and" the scale G is prepared accordingly.

It will be noted that in order to insure proper readings, the distance between zero and 10 on the scale G is larger than the distance between 10 and 20, each 10o being narrower than the next. After this scale has been prepared, it is obvious that whatever the percentage of commercially pure lactic acid and water which may exist in the mixture, the measure of the liquid will show on the scale G the exact amount of actual lactic acid. Thus, if the actual amount is 52%, the instrument `will float at the point 52, assuming that-the temperature is l5O O. If the temperature is different, the reading can be very readily corrected by the mechanism which I shall refer to later.

What is known as ordinary commercial lactic acid as contrasted with technically pure lactic acid contains only 60% of actual lactic acid, and the second scale G2 in juxtaposition with the scale G is prepared for mixtures composed ofpcommercial lactic acid. It will be noted that the iigure 60 on the scale G2 corresponds to the graduation 59 on the scale G this is due to the fact that the mixture must be-read from the top of the instrument toward the surface, because of the dark o )tical defect due to the angle of observation t ie indication of degree is retarded about the space corresponding to lo as the maximum, from which it gradually lessens until it disappears entirely at the minimum.

lhe corrections of the thermometer scale in the bulb C are made as follows: The usual scale H is prominently marked with red ink at 59c F., which corresponds to l5o C. as the Zero. For every l0O of heat above this arbitrary Zero one point must be added to the percentages read on the scale G, and for every 100 below lo must be subtracted from the reading of the scale G. rThus, if scale G indicates 52 at 89o, the actual reading` is if the reading is 52 at 940 the corrected reading is 55-1%; if the reading is 52 at a temperature of 44, the corrected reading is 505%. This instrument, therefore, will accurately indicate by means of the surface of the liquid the exact percentage of lactic acid contained in any mixture of either technically pure lactic acid or commercial lactic acid and water.

l am aware ofthe fact that there have been instruments heretofore made which will indicate a't the surface of the liquid the number of degrees Baume and the like, and l therefore do not claim such instrument; but

What l do claim is:

1. An instrument comprising an upright floating stem composed of four chambers, one for the thermometer bulb, one for the weight, one for the thermometer stem and air chamber, and a fourth for graduations tc indicate at the surface of the liquid to be tested the percentage contents of an ingredient at a predetermined temperature, the readings of said last mentioned chamber being smallest at the highest portion thereof and largest at the lowest portion thereof, and corrections indicated on the thermometer scale to compensate for changes in temperature.

2. An instrument for measuring the percentage contents of lactic acid in solution, provided with two sets of graduations in the stem,one set arranged for the indication at the surface of the liquid of the percentage contents of technically pure lactic acid, and the other set to indicate at said point the contents of commercial lactic acid, the readings for the latter set of graduations being retarded about the space of lo from the correct reading and diminishing gradually in va riation from the true reading as the zero point is reached.

3. An instrument for measuring the per centage contents of lactic acid in. solution provided with two sets of graduations in the stem, one set arranged for the indication at the surface of the liquid of the percentage contents of technically pure lactic acid, and the other set to indicate at said point the contents of commercial lactic acid, the readings for the latter set of graduations being retarded about the space of lo from the correct reading and diminishing gradually in variation from the true reading as the Zero point is reached, and carrying a thermometer at the lower portion of the instrument, having corrections applied to the scale thereof to compensate for the variations in tem peratu rc, the entire instrument adapted to float upright in the liquid.

4. An instrument for measuring the percentage lactic acid in solution, being eemposed of a hollow glass body containing at its lower end a mercury bulb above which is placed a weight to enable the instrument to stand upright in the liquid, above said weight being an enlarged air chamber into which projects the mercury stem, above said air chamber being located an elongated. hollow stem containing on the interior a paper provided with graduations to indicate the percentage contents of the lactic acid in solution, and giving the percentage for both technically pure lactic acid and commercial lactic acid, and the air chamber behind the thermometer stem'being also provided with apaper shield containing thermometer readings and corrections to be added or subtraizted to or from the reading on the stem to indicate a correct result, according to the variations in temperature.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 13th day of August, 1908.

EDWARD HlllltGlCSlljli.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. KnnLnNnnoK, FRED A. KLEIN. 

